Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Our plan going into Stage 2 on Tuesday was to look after Ivan Dominguez. He sprinted so well yesterday and the boys did an amazing job to bring back the break on the circuits to nearly deliver him to a win.

But we changed tactics in the final part of the stage because Ivan and I weren’t in a good position. Caleb Manion and Ivan Stevic were the wildcards we had to play. They would be following breakaways and killing them to make it come down to a bunch sprint. Both of them were riding well so when we hit the 3 km to go mark, Caleb just drilled it and launched Stevic up Clocktower Hill.

It was a very satisfying victory, not only for Ivan but also for me. He came to me with 40 km to go and said his legs were feeling good. I told him he needed to go for it. It was nice to see someone who has worked tirelessly to help others win finally get his own victory after a year and four months.

Wednesday’s stage is another long one – 190.2 km. But it’s going to be a lot tougher with four categorized climbs. For me, personally, it’s going to be a little bit of survival. It will be a difficult race. There’s probably going to be a bunch of about 35 riders by the time they reach the finish line. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of guys trying to get time before Stage 5’s race up Brasstown Bald Mountain.